


Cirque du Léopard

by holy3cake



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, ChalexWeek2020, Crazy, Cute, Fluffy, It Was All A Dream or was it?, M/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holy3cake/pseuds/holy3cake
Summary: Charlie and Justin decide to check out the new show in town, but they never bargained for this!AU starring Charlie and Justin as bestfriends, who discover something magical....but maybe a little strange?Circus AU for Chalex week :)
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28
Collections: Chalex Week 2020





	Cirque du Léopard

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Omg I was so excited to write an AU for Chalex, but I had so many ideas and I couldn’t really execute them, but then I had a film on whilst I was doing this, and it fits so well, or at least I think it does haha! Anyway, this is based off The Vampire's Assistant, which is a brilliant film adapted from a book series. It’s also a bit like The Greatest Showman! But if you haven’t seen it, don't worry, i’ll explain everything! This can be read without background knowledge! If this is too similar to your own AU, please let me know and i’ll take it down, but I think I had a fairly original idea here? Also this is set in a universe where Charlie hasn’t met Alex yet and the gang is completely different, but it’ll make sense when you read! Anyway, please enjoy! :)

“Hey Charlie? Are you going to this thing?” Justin ran up to Charlie as they finished school. It was an average day in the life of the two teenagers, sitting through boring classes and watching the clock. But Charlie was surprised when Justin bounded up to him, holding a colourful flyer. He passed it to Charlie, and he stared at it in disbelief. It was brightly coloured and flamboyant, with bold writing in a strange eerie font. But it wasn’t the appearance that startled him, it was the content. 

“ _ Cirque du Léopard! Come down this Thursday, for a night of magic! See our acts fly through the sky, and perform magical tricks! Open your mind to the unknown! Mankind is not as clear cut as human and animal, as you’ll soon find out! Join us for a truly memorable night, 8pm last seating. Don’t delay, embrace your inner freak today! 18+ only. Harren Shack. _

“Is this a joke, Justin?” Charlie said, since he'd never heard of a freak show before, and he wasn’t even sure if it was legal. 

“No, it’s real! My buddy went last week, and he said it was awesome! Please come! I can’t go on my own.” Justin begged, pouting. Charlie sighed deeply and passed him the flyer back, shaking his head. 

“It’s not right to call people freaks. And I don’t like the circus. Shouldn’t we report this?” Charlie frowned as Justin jumped up eagerly. 

"We can report it. But shouldn’t we see it first? Y’know, then we can report how bad it is?” He pleaded, with Charlie finally giving in. 

“Okay! God, I'll go. But if I see a hint of bad treatment, we’re reporting it.” He groaned and walked off, to his own house. Justin squealed in excitement and went his own way. When both boys were home, they changed into fresh clothes and had dinner. Justin texted Charlie to meet at the docks, which was near the Harren Shack. Justin headed over there and got there at 7:30. Whilst he checked his watch, he heard voices coming from the Harren Shack, he assumed that the show was getting prepared for later. 

Charlie sighed, and against his better judgement went to meet Justin at the docks. He wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about, but if it meant something to Justin he wouldn’t object. As he walked towards him, he saw a strange car whizzing past, exceeding the speed limit. It was similar to a limousine, but it was bright purple and had  _ CIRQUE  _ painted on the side in the same eerie writing as the poster he’d seen previously. Tonight’s acts, he thought to himself as Justin ran up to him. 

“Hey! You won’t regret this!” Justin grinned, dragging him towards the entrance of the shack. He bought the tickets and pulled Charlie inside. It was only a small shack on the outside, but inside it was an arena. A stage sat in the middle, with red seats surrounding it. Bright lights illuminated the main stage, and a few VIP balconies overlooked it. It didn’t look like much, but it wasn’t the most important part of the show. Justin pulled Charlie over to the seats straight at the front, wanting to see everything closely. Charlie checked his watch as they sat down. 

“It’s only 7:45. Why are we so early?” Charlie whined, smirking a little when Justin kicked his chair. 

“We don’t want to miss anything! It’ll start soon anyway.” Justin replied, as more people started filling in and sitting behind them. Justin had picked a great viewing spot, but Charlie wasn’t sure if he wanted to be viewing at all. As he thought quietly to himself, minutes passed and the show was about to start. The lights went down, and the swish of a curtain announced the arrival of the ringmaster. He stepped out into a spotlight, grinning madly like a Cheshire cat. 

“WELCOME, ONE AND ALL! MY NAME IS CLAY JENSEN, AND I’LL BE YOUR RINGMASTER TONIGHT! LET US COMMENCE WITH THE SHOW!” Clay bellowed into the arena. He took off his large top hat and bowed, to an applauding audience. Charlie and Justin looked at each other, slightly creeped out by Clay’s smile. 

“FIRST, PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BEARDED LADY, JESSICA DAVIS!” Clay stepped away from the stage, and Jessica stepped out, dressed in a sparkly silver dress. She looked like an ordinary pretty teenager, until she swirled around in her dress. When she turned back to the audience, a huge beard had protruded from her face. Justin couldn’t stop looking at her, and whilst the audience cooed in surprise, Jessica walked to the front of the stage and blew a kiss at Justin. Her beard continued to grow, and it wrapped itself around Justin’s neck, pulling him a little closer. Charlie couldn’t stop laughing as he watched Justin blush, taken aback by Jessica’s beard growing talent. Jessica blew the audience a kiss and stepped to the side as Clay prepared to announce the next act. 

“NEXT, WE HAVE THE TWO STRONGEST MEN IN THE WORLD! MR TONY AND CALEB, WHO CAN LIFT THE HEAVIEST WEIGHTS KNOWN TO MAN!” Tony and Caleb stepped out after their names had been called and waved at the audience. They were both inhumanly muscular, their veins almost popping out of their skin. Tony picked up a large rock that had been placed on the stage. It was over 1000KG, or so it said on the side. He picked it up with ease, and threw it at Caleb. Their routine consisted of various weight lifting and displays of strength, before the two of them kissed and smiled at the audience. Their display earnt a huge round of applause, and they also stepped aside for the next performance. 

“HOW CAN WE GO ON WITH THE SHOW WITHOUT OUR HELL-RAISER, SKYE MILLER! SHE CURRENTLY HOLDS THE RECORD FOR MOST FIRE SWALLOWED IN UNDER A MINUTE!” With that, Skye stepped out of the wings, wearing a black Lycra suit and holding flaming sticks. She ran the fire down her arms, then down her face, before putting the fire into her mouth. Everyone gasped in shock, and Justin laughed, looking at Charlie. 

“That has to be fake….” Charlie shrugged at Justin’s words, and couldn’t help watching everyone’s routine in awe. When Skye stepped away, Clay continued. 

“EVERYONE, PLEASE WELCOME TYLER DOWN! BUT YOU BETTER LOOK OUT, HIS EYES MIGHT JUST CAPTURE YOU!” He boomed, making Charlie even more curious when a timid looking boy stepped out. Whilst his charisma wasn’t as high as the others in the group, he smiled at the audience. His eyes had a strange glaze to them, and when he blinked, his eyes flashed and took a picture. He jumped around the stage, taking pictures of everyone with his magical lens. Justin and Charlie watched eagerly, surprised at the show’s craziness. 

“THANK YOU TYLER! NEXT WE HAVE ANI ACHOLA, WITH THE LARGEST MOUTH IN THE WORLD! SHE’LL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!” Clay chuckled and let a pretty girl bound onto the stage. She was similar to Jessica in appearance but much shorter, and her mouth was hard not to look at. Her teeth were huge, and she bit through a piece of rope to display her mouth strength. She then proceeded to hang from the ceiling in a gymnast routine, using her mouth as an anchor instead of her hands. It earnt her enormous applause, and Charlie found himself enjoying the show, even though he hadn’t intended too. 

“FOR OUR PENULTIMATE ACT, WE HAVE COURTNEY CRIMSON! THE AMAZING BODY ARTIST!” 

“What’s a body artist?” Justin whispered to Charlie, making Charlie shrug. The boys soon understood what a body artist was, when Courtney walked onto the stage. She cut her arm off, but it instantly grew back. She continued taking parts of her body off, to have them magically regrow. Everyone screamed in horror, but cheered when she performed a new trick. As she finished her routine, Clay tapped his microphone. 

“PERFECT PERFORMANCE COURTNEY! NOW, FOR OUR LAST ACT, YOU’RE REALLY IN FOR A TREAT! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME OUR DOUBLE ACT, ZACH AND ALEX!” Clay shouted, but nobody came on stage. Zach was in the wings, gesturing to Clay that they weren’t able to come on. Clay awkwardly adjusted his bowtie and looked at the audience. 

“O-Oh. My apologies ladies and gentlemen! Our last act will not be performing tonight! But please, give a big round of applause for our previous acts!” Clay started clapping, but his face was concerned. Charlie and Justin clapped wildly, but Charlie was very curious. Why didn’t the last act perform? And what exactly did Zach and Alex do together? As Clay bowed and headed behind the curtain, the show ended and Charlie tugged Justin’s arm. 

“Hey, you wanna go backstage? That girl seemed to like you.” He smirked as Justin nodded eagerly.

Checking the perimeter, Charlie and Justin snuck behind the curtain and into the back of the shack. It was completely different outside, there were various tents for the acts and Clay had his own larger tent. They hid as everyone went back to their tents, and as Justin went to find Jessica, Charlie continued to stay out of sight. He could hear crying in a nearby tent, so he went over and knocked on the pole outside. 

“Excuse me?” He called out softly. “Are you okay?” 

He waited for a few moments before a short boy came out. He had brown tousled hair, and blue eyes filled with tears. He was wearing a black beanie, black jeans and a band t-shirt. He looked perfectly ordinary, at least at first glance. He glared at Charlie. 

“Who are you? This is for performers only.” He growled. 

“S-Sorry! I was just curious! And I heard you crying….I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Charlie said nervously, aware that he and Justin had wandered into an unauthorised area. 

“Oh. Right. Well i’m fine…..It’s just...I let my partner down.” He sat on a bench outside the tent, with Charlie following. 

“Were you the last act?”

“Y-Yeah. But Zach does all the work. He’s an epic guitar player.” 

“And you? No offence but you don’t look like the others..” Charlie smiled, but the boy growled at him. 

“Fuck you. I’m the fucking star of this show. It’s named after me. I just...got a little shy this time.” He crossed his arms. Charlie bit his lip, still smiling. 

“Sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Charlie.” He held his hand out. He gasped when the boy shook his hand, he had extremely sharp nails. 

“Alex.” He smirked when he saw Charlie jump at his hand. 

“S-So….Alex….what is your talent?” He asked curiously. Alex laughed and faced him, staring straight at him. 

“You can’t tell?” He giggled and Charlie shook his head. Slowly, he pulled his beanie off, and little brown cat ears popped up. He leaned across on the bench, close to Charlie’s face. As he leaned, a long tail curled up from his jeans. It was spotty, and very cute. Charlie blushed madly. 

“You’re a cat?” 

“They call me Lexy the Leopard.” 

_ Cirque du Léopard? Oh right.  _

“You’re very cute, Alex.” Charlie smiled, and Alex smiled back. 

“Thank you. When Zach plays this song on his guitar, I purr and do like this little routine. But I didn’t feel like it today.” He shrugged and sat back down, his tail swaying behind him. Charlie’s smile grew and he looked at him. 

“Can I…pet you?” He giggled. Alex hissed at him. 

“I’m not a house cat! But, I suppose. If you’re gentle.” He bowed his head down, and Alex scratched his ears. Alex purred loudly then blushed, pulling away from him. 

“Bastard. I only purr for people I like.” 

“Well, I like you. I can’t purr but…..do you want to go for a drink sometime?” Charlie said boldly, deciding to put his cards on the table. Alex smirked and wrapped his tail around his leg. 

“Sure. But if you get me a saucer of milk, I'll scratch your face off.” He smiled, and Charlie took his paw, smiling widely. 

***

Charlie woke up with a start, screaming the house down. Alex ran into the room, trying to calm him down. 

“Charlie! Charlie what the fuck?!” He shook him, and Charlie panted. He’d had a crazy dream, but it was a nice one. He finally understood why now, as he looked at Alex. Alex was wearing a headband with cat ears, from yesterday’s Halloween party. Charlie laughed madly as Alex stared at him. 

_ Weirdo.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was weird, right? :) Kudos and comments are always hugely welcome, please let me know what you thought of this absolutely crazy AU! xx


End file.
